Interview with Reg Booth and Maura Booth (b.1949 and 1938).
Mr and Mrs Booth have lived in Castlethorpe for five years, having lived in the area for some time before their marriage. They remember initial reactions to the plans for Milton Keynes in the 1960s: ‘we used to have a laugh, fancy calling a city after that two-penny half-penny little place in the middle of nowhere.’ There was some local opposition but protest meeting were not well attended. As a farm worker, Mr Booth remembers the distress of farmers whose land was compulsorily purchased. In their opinion there has been a great decline in community spirit in Stony Stratford and Wolverton.
Mr Booth remembers helping with the delivery and siting of the concrete cows. When the shopping centre opened initially it was difficult to get there by public transport, so they did not use it. Mrs Booth comments that the General Hospital was a good thing. Mr Booth says: ‘I didn’t want it(MK) then and I don’t want it now and if you speak to a lot of local people they still don’t want it. But I suppose … it’s never going to go away so we should expand it and keep going.’
No Comments
Add a comment about this page